Can't Fight the Moonlight
by alittlesummerwine
Summary: Diana decides to visit Gotham one evening...BMWW.


**Title: Can't Fight the Moonlight**

Un-Betaed.

"_You can try to resist, try to hide from my kiss, but you know, but you know that you can't fight the moonlight; Deep in the dark you surrender your heart, cause you know, cause you know, you can't fight the moonlight…" – Leann Rimes_

It was a dark and cloudless night in the city of Gotham, without any stars to guide her path as she made her way into the shadows and darkness of the city, intent on finding one particular citizen who increasingly interested her. The grit of the city, the smell of sewage, and the water from the river dominated the air and left her with a sense that this city was still discovering itself, still trying to find its way amidst the chaos and the villainy that so often filled the city.

Never before had she ventured into Gotham at night, content to visit Bruce only during the day, only as the sunlight blazed down on her shoulders and the birds filled the skies with their cheery tunes.

It was a different city at night – a city more suited to the man that she knew during these hours as Batman. The public side of him, Bruce Wayne, fit the business meetings and the black tie affairs, but it was Batman who made his way and his name in the city that lay shrouded in darkness.

It was this side of him that she needed to see, this side of him that she wished to visit tonight, the part that she saw so often in League meetings and missions but didn't fully understand. She knew that he was fiercely protective of his city and it was highly likely that he wouldn't appreciate her presence in his city, but she needed to see him in action, to see how the urban legend came alive in the city of Gotham, the city where crime and insanity seemed to run not only rampant but hand in hand.

She landed softly on the rooftop of a building, knowing that at any moment she could be discovered and summarily kicked out of his city and yet, she was more than willing to take the risk, more than willing to see Bruce in costume, in action, and in the element that seemed to suit him so well.

He was a creature of the darkness in so many ways, at ease amongst the shadows and the murkiness of his city, able to understand and properly deal with the creatures and villains that tried so desperately to take over his city. But she knew that no matter what, Bruce, Batman, was a man who would fight for this city with his last breath, his last action being that of protection and aid for the city that had taken so much from him.

She was never quite sure what had made him cling so desperately to this city. It had stripped him of his parents, had given him naught but shadows and loneliness and yet, she supposed, in some ways it was all that he had left – of himself and of his parents. There were still here, amongst the streets and the darkness, still here in the guise of their son, defending his city against those who sought to overtake it.

She could understand devotion to a parent, to a cause; she herself was here to protect mankind despite her mother's wishes and yet, she still loved her mother with every fiber of her being, regardless of having been exiled for defeating the villain Faust and saving the Amazon race from he and Hades' foul intentions.

She understood.

Bruce might not realize it, but she understood quite a bit about parental devotion. It was one of the things that she admired most about him, that he was unafraid to take his memories and use his parents as tools in his arsenal, as a reason for his mission. When it came to his parents, he was unafraid of his emotions and his needs. He loved his parents; he needed to protect their memory and others in his city from facing what he had seen that dark night in the shadows of the movie theatre.

Hearing the sound of a grapple in the distance, she crept to the edge of the roof, clinging to the darkness as she spied the figure winging through the sky on almost invisible lines, the shadows that surrounded him an essential part of his mystique and legendary status.

Here, people saw him as vengeance, as a creature of the night, but Diana saw him differently – as a symbol of hope, racing across the skyline in defense of his city, a knight who sought the shadows rather than the light. But he wasn't the man that everyone thought he was, she knew he was a man who fought for light, fought for Gotham to rise from the ashes of crime and become reborn as a city of peace and prosperity.

She took a seat on the ledge of the roof, her hair streaming in the wind behind her as she watched the man she had come to care for as more than a friend land in a darkened alley, his cape pulled tightly around him. He certainly could be a menacing figure, but Diana knew that behind that Kevlar covered chest laid a man who was a protector of innocents, a man with a warrior spirit who would have fit in perfectly amongst the knight of olden times, of legends and myths.

The sounds of the city finally penetrated her ears as she looked around, seeing the glimmer of red and blue flashing lights, the sounds of sirens wailing as they arrived just minutes after the Dark Knight took off from his perch, having summarily dealt with whatever criminal he had faced. It didn't matter to Bruce if it was a petty mugging or a nefarious plot involving millions of dollars being stolen from a bank – every crime was an offense against his city and he wasn't going to stand for it or allow it to happen.

That was why he donned the Bat-suit every night, to rid his city of the plague of crime that had taken his parents in the only way that he knew how. If it meant years of sacrifice, of self-denial, of penitence, Bruce would fight for his city and for the memory of parents.

It was hard not to respect that kind of love, that kind of devotion to a memory and a cause. She suddenly felt grateful that she had been able to spend so many thousands of years with her mother, enjoying the teachings of the Amazons and growing closer to her sister and her regal, queenly mother. Bruce had been able to spend such a small time with his parents and yet they had affected his life so keenly; indeed, they had helped to make him into the man that he was.

Somehow, she thought that they would be a little proud of him – his efforts and his actions. He wasn't possessed of flight or speed or immortality; instead, he had earned and demanded respect from his fellow heroes by honing his particular skills and using them to the best effect possible. She knew that he wouldn't see himself as great, just as a man who tried to do what he thought was right regardless of the time or situation.

She disagreed.

Hearing a scraping sound from behind her, she turned and stared into the cowl covered face of the Dark Knight known as Batman. His formidable form and expression drilled into her, but she refused to cower away. She had every right to be in this city, simply enjoying the sight of the man that she was coming to love and admire him doing what he did best.

"Princess," he said softly, menacingly, his very stature communicating his disapproval at her appearance in his city. This was his city, his world to protect, and he didn't take kindly to those that he considered intruders, particularly those with meta powered strengths. But she wasn't about to back down, no matter how threatening a figure he might cut, he was still no match for her stubbornness if she chose it to be so.

"Batman," she returned quietly, nodding her head slightly in a gesture of respect and greeting. He stared at her for a moment, his face scowling and irritating, arms crossed over his chest and he tried to dominate her, to win their little staring contest, to see which one would break first and turn away.

And then she did the strangest thing – she smiled. It glowed luminescent in the darkness, an abiding expression of her joy, and something that screamed to him that this was a creature of beauty and grace, that this was a beacon of hope in the shadows of his city.

He faltered for a second in the wake of her smile and immediately drew his cape around his body, pulling himself up taller, looming over her perch on the ledge of the roof.

"Get out of my city," he boldly stated, no room for argument in his tone. Diana, however, refused to back down and instead, slowly stood, walking over to him in the darkness, her smile growing larger as she poked him in the chest, her expression teasing and her hair streaming in the wind as she told him audaciously, "Make me."

For a second, she couldn't believe herself, couldn't believe that she had just done that, that she had just commanded the Dark Knight in his own territory. But something told her that this was the only way to prove to him that she wasn't afraid of him, that whatever she felt for him had absolutely nothing to do with fear and everything to do with her heart.

"Princess," he began forcefully, but Diana took another unprecedented step for her, sliding a hand along his jaw and gently placing her lips on his as they stood there in the shadows, hidden from the moonlight. The kiss lasted no longer than a second; just enough time for Bruce to remain shocked enough to allow her the embrace. She knew that if she waited any longer that he would push her away, that he would demand that she once again leave his city.

But tonight, she'd wanted a taste – of Gotham, of the darkness, of Batman, and of Bruce.

She'd gotten that in spades. And a wise warrior knew the value of retreat, particularly when the war being waged was not the main part of the battle. She wanted to be accepted into Bruce's life, but not necessarily into his part of Gotham. She just wanted to see how he lived, how he worked here in the gloom of the city that he called home.

It was a foolish thing, a somewhat girlish fantasy – watching the knight in action, rescuing damsels and those in distress. But it was the most important part of Bruce – his city, his heart, and his memories. And now perhaps she understood him a little better.

"Princess…" he started once again, his tone slightly gentler, but still strident in the darkness. He hadn't moved since she had made her bold maneuver and she knew that it she waited much longer, he would still try to kick her out of his city. And so, she took to the skies, going no further than a foot or two before turning and glancing down at him, a smile lighting her face as her blue eyes met the lenses of his cowl. She knew that he was looking at her, that somehow, tonight, she had touched him emotionally, in the one place where he was least ready and least accepting, but she hoped in time that he would see that she cared deeply and was fast sliding into love, a love she wanted him to return.

But in the meantime, she blew him a kiss and the affection shimmered in the air around her with her gesture, the sparks between them practically sizzling in the night as she whispered just loud enough for him to hear, "Goodnight, Batman, until tomorrow," before she took off into the night, a smile on her face, a prayer to her gods in her heart, and love in her eyes.

And behind her, unbeknownst to her, the Dark Knight raised a finger to his lips, still able to feel the fleeting kiss she had bestowed on him. His eyes devoured her figure for a long moment as she flew through the night sky before finally turning back to his city, a thought of what might lay on the morrow bringing an upward tilt to his mouth and a whisper to his lips before he again faded into the darkness and the shadows.

"Goodnight, Diana."


End file.
